The Medicine Hat Mavericks were the last champions of the Western Major Baseball League (WMBL) in 2018. The league has since become the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) and last year it ushered in a new reigning champ in the Okotoks Dawgs.

During this edition of In The Cards, we take a closer look at that title-winning Mavs team, which posted a 38-9 regular-season record. Offensively, Medicine Hat led the league in runs, hits, runs batted in (RBI), on-base percentage, walks and batting average. They also placed close to the top of the WMBL in several pitching categories.

It was a long and winding road for utility player Darnell Coles, who played 17 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons for eight different teams.

The Californian quickly climbed the ranks of Seattle’s minor-league system after the Mariners made him the sixth overall pick in the 1980 amateur entry draft. Coles had already played in Bellingham, Wausau, Bakersfield, Chattanooga, Salt Lake City and Seattle by the time he was sent to Calgary to play for the city’s new Triple-A franchise in the Pacific Coast League.

It wasn’t planned, but Tylor Jans managed to pack a spring worth of college baseball highlights into a matter of days.

From a strong start to the season with Cloud County College to the abrupt end with the COVID-19 pandemic to signing his Letter of Intent with the University of Louisiana Monroe, it’s safe to say March 2020 is a month the Edmonton native won’t soon forget.

We talked about that and more in a recent conversation on Alberta Dugout Stories: The Podcast.